Method and apparatus for communication system upgrade via phased adoption

ABSTRACT

A phased adoption procedure is disclosed for adopting a new communication system that provides potential adopters a high degree of confidence in the reliability of the proposed communication system prior to committed adoption.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/994,017, filed May 15, 2014, which is incorporated herein inits entirety by this reference thereto.

FIELD

The invention relates to computer networking and telecommunications.More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus forcommunication system upgrade via phased adoption.

BACKGROUND

An essential factor in the deployment of a new communication system isdemonstrating the reliability of the system prior to committed adoption.A bootstrapping problem exists, however, in that true reliability canonly be demonstrated through the continued use of the communicationsystem. Especially for communication systems that are used by largeorganizations or entire societies, a “you first” mentality may prevailwhen deciding if and when to adopt the new communication system. Thus,potential adopters sensibly follow a “wait and see” approach throughwhich they can assess the reliability of the new system by observing theexperiences of others.

Numerous error detection and correction techniques exist for determiningthe fidelity with which particular data frames, data packets, or fileshave been transmitted through a communication system at particularmoments in time. For example, parity bits and checksums can be used inthe data link and transport layers of the open systems interconnectionmodel (OSI Model), which is a conceptual model that characterizes andstandardizes the internal functions of a communication system bypartitioning it into abstraction layers, to ensure that individualpackets and data frames of information are accurately relayed from asender to a receiver. Similarly, cryptographic hash functions, e.g. theMD5 function, are routinely used at the application layer to verify thesuccessful transmission, e.g. the download, of larger data units, e.g.compressed archives or software packages.

Verifying the continuity of this fidelity, however, inherently requiresmore time. Potential adopters may wish to observe the reliability of theproposed communication system over a substantial period of time inreal-world applications and under real-world conditions, i.e.environments that are not easily replicated during experimental testing.For example, a potential adopter may wish to verify the availability,i.e. the proportion of time a system is in a functioning condition, ofthe system under varying environmental stresses, such as operatingtemperatures, weather conditions; or the resistance of the system tocontinued and evolving attacks by adverse parties.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide potential adopters witha method of adoption that nurtures a high degree of confidence in thereliability of the communication system prior to committed adoption.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention provide a phased adoption procedure foradopting a new communication system that provides potential adopters ahigh degree of confidence in the reliability of the proposedcommunication system prior to committed adoption.

DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C show a schematic overview of the phases of switching from acurrent communication system to a proposed communication systemaccording to the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a schematic overview of the phases of switchingthrough a sequence of communication system generations according to theinvention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of an exemplary address-less, collisionfree, time-triggered point-to-point ring network according to theinvention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of an exemplary address-less, collisionfree, time-triggered point-to-point network according to the invention;and

FIG. 5 is a block schematic diagram showing a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions for causingthe machine to perform one or more of the methodologies discussed hereinmay be executed.

DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention provide a phased adoption procedure foradopting a new communication system that provides potential adopters ahigh degree of confidence in the reliability of the proposedcommunication system prior to committed adoption. FIGS. 1A-1C show aschematic overview of the phases of switching from a currentcommunication system to a proposed communication system according to anembodiment of the invention.

The current and proposed communication systems may be based upon circuitswitched, message switched, or packet switched networks. For example,the communication system may be a circuit switched telephone network, apacket switched computer network, or the packet switched automotivecommunication networks described in greater detail below.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the current and proposedcommunication systems are communication protocols. Preferably, theprotocols are defined in software. In such embodiments, progressingthrough the phases described below may be performed via softwareupdates.

In FIG. 1A, prior to proposal of the new communication system, a sender10 transmits data to a receiver 14 through the current communicationsystem 11.

In the second phase of the adoption procedure, see FIG. 1B, theavailable communication bandwidth of the underlying communicationchannel, measured, for example, in circuits, message, or packets perunit time, is split between the current system 11 and the proposedsystem 13, and the current system and proposed system operate in aparallel or interleaved manner.

In one embodiment of the invention, each portion of data is transmittedthrough both the current system and the proposed system. Transmission isfully redundant, with each portion of data transmitted via the currentsystem and as test data via the proposed system. This eliminates thepossibility of data loss due to a failure in the proposed system alone.Redundant transmission also enables direct comparison of the test datareceived via the proposed system with the data received via the currentsystem. This provides a supplementary mechanism, in addition to theerror correction techniques mentioned above, by which the reliability ofthe proposed system may be assessed.

Fully redundant data transmission, however, does reduce the effectivebandwidth of the combined systems to half that of the underlyingcommunication channel. Thus, in various alternative embodiments of theinvention, only a portion of the data transmitted through the currentsystem is transmitted through the proposed system as test data. Thefraction of the total data, e.g. 1/10, transmitted through the proposedsystem as test data and the nature of the test data, e.g. whether it isactual data or meta-data, such as headers, checksums, or cryptographichashes, transmitted through the proposed system may all be adjusted,either upon establishing the second phase or over time during the secondphase, based on the latest estimates of the reliability of the proposedsystem.

For example, if the latest estimates of the reliability of the proposedsystem, determined as described below, remain low, only a small fractionof the lowest priority data may be transmitted through the proposedsystem. While transmitting only a small fraction of the total datathrough the proposed system does not fully stress the proposed system interms of bandwidth handled, it does allow for observation ofcommunication system reliability over time in the presence of theenvironmental and adversarial factors described above.

Additional embodiments of the invention incorporate other techniques forreducing the bandwidth of the test data, that is, the bandwidth thatmust be dedicated to assessing the reliability of the proposed system.In one such embodiment, only the cryptographic hash, e.g. the MD5 hash,of a data unit, e.g. a packet, transmitted through the current system istransmitted through the proposed system. In another embodiment, only theheader of the data unit, e.g. a packet header or frame header, istransmitted through the proposed system.

The reliability of the proposed system can be assessed using one or moreof a variety of techniques, depending on the nature of the datatransmitted through the proposed system. In those embodiments in which afraction of the actual data is transmitted through the proposed system,the reliability of the proposed system can be assessed by either or both(1) verifying any error detection techniques, e.g. parity bits,checksums, or cryptographic hashes, accompanying the test datatransmitted through the proposed system; and (2) directly comparing thetest data transmitted through the proposed system with the equivalentdata transmitted through the current system. In those embodiments inwhich only meta-data, e.g. a header, checksum, or hash, is transmittedthrough the proposed system, the meta-data can be compared against theresult of applying the corresponding error detection technique to thecorresponding transmitted through the current system.

After a period of time operating in the second phase, when the proposedcommunication system has demonstrated sufficient reliability, the thirdphase of the adoption procedure begins. See FIG. 1C. The sendertransmits data to the receiver solely through the proposed system 13 andcommitted adoption is complete. In effect, the proposed system becomesthe current system.

Embodiments of the invention can also be used to test a proposed systemin parallel with a current system to expand the capacity of, rather thanreplace, the current system. In such case, during the second phase theproposed system would still be tested as above. After being proved, theproposed system would ‘go live’, but instead of replacing the currentsystem it would supplement the capacity of the current system.

For simplicity, FIGS. 1A-1C and 2A-2B show a unidirectional flow of datafrom a sender to a receiver. In practice, the flow of data isbidirectional, and each potential adopter has the opportunity toevaluate the reliability of the communication system as both sender andreceiver.

In one embodiment of the invention, the potential adopters assess thereliability of the proposed system using one or more of the techniquesdescribed above and collectively determine, e.g. via voting or reportingthe results of the assessments to a regulatory authority, that theproposed system is sufficiently reliable, and all potential adopters canadopt the proposed system in a coordinated fashion.

Alternatively, each potential adopter individually determines, e.g. assender, receiver, or both, when the proposed communication system hasdemonstrated sufficient reliability using one or more of the techniquesdescribed above. Such adopters communicate as sender and receiver solelythrough the proposed system, while other potential adopters continue tocommunicate through both the current and proposed system. Once asufficient number of potential adopters have individually adopted theproposed system, the remainder of the potential adopters automaticallyallocate all bandwidth to the proposed system, either by voluntarilyagreement or at the prompting of a regulatory authority.

The invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C is readily generalized tosupport continuous migration through an indefinitely long sequence ofcommunication system upgrades.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a schematic overview of the phases of switchingthrough a sequence of communication system generations according to anembodiment of the invention. In this embodiment of the invention, ateach phase of the procedure the available communication bandwidth issplit between successive generations of the communication system.

In FIG. 2A, at a first moment in time the sender 20 transmits data tothe receiver 24 through the current systems 21, e.g. System N−1, and theproposed systems 22, e.g. System N, via a data splitting scheme such asdescribed above.

In FIG. 2B, once the proposed system is accepted for committed adoptionthe communication systems cycle one generation and the sender againtransmits data through the current systems 22, e.g. System N, and theproposed systems 23, e.g. System N+1. In this manner, the reliability ofthe next-generation communication system is continually underevaluation.

Additionally, embodiments of the invention are readily generalized toallow for the concurrent evaluation of more than one proposedcommunication system. Specifically, if the Nth system is the currentsystem, an (M+1)-way split of data across the systems {N, N+1, . . . ,N+M} allows for the concurrent evaluation of M proposed systems, withproposed systems aging through an evaluation process from most recentlyproposed to next-in-line for adoption.

Finally, embodiments of the invention can be applied at any one or morelevels within the OSI communication system model. The sender andreceiver may be any number of hardware or software devices, e.g.switches or routers, or applications depending on the specific layer atwhich the bandwidth split occurs. In performing the split, the availablecommunication bandwidth is determined by the bandwidth-limiting layer orlayers above or below.

Exemplary Usage

To illustrate the operation of embodiments of the invention, considerthe case of an automotive communication system in which severalcommunication nodes, each associated with a vehicle device, e.g. asecurity system or a cruise control unit, are connected to one anotherat the physical and data link layers. Each node (see FIG. 4, forexample) comprises at least one receiving port 101 and buffer, at leastone sending port 102 and buffer, and input 111 and output 112 links tothe associated vehicle device.

Suppose that in the current system configuration, software orprogrammable hardware onboard the node, serving as the network andtransport layers, configures the nodes into an address-less,collision-free, time-triggered point-to-point ring network. A ringnetwork, described in greater detail below and illustrated in FIG. 3, isa network in which each node connects to exactly two other nodes,yielding a single continuous loop.

Further suppose that an automotive designer wishes to configure thenodes more flexibly into an address-less, collision-free,time-triggered, point-to-point network that is not restricted to a ringtopology. Embodiments of the invention allow the designer to implementthe proposed network on a prospective basis by installing a new systemconfiguration, i.e. loading new software or re-programming hardware, toimplement both the current and proposed network in a parallel orinterleaved manner. The designer only needs to commit to the proposednetwork after its reliability is extensively confirmed, either or bothin testing or in the field.

More detailed descriptions of the exemplary networks are provided below.One of the two networks below could be the current system and the othercould be the proposed system. In a presently preferred embodiment of theinvention, the Point-to-Point-Ring is the current system and thePoint-to-Point is the proposed system.

Address-Less, Collision Free, Time-Triggered Point-to-Point Ring Network

Three problems encountered when designing a real-time communicationnetwork are the efficient use of bandwidth, collision avoidance, anddeterministic messages. Packets of information sent from onecommunication node to another contain an address so that each node candetermine which packets are intended for it. This address is overheadbecause it uses bandwidth but does not contain useful messageinformation, thus decreasing the efficiency of a real-time network.

When a node receives or tries to send two or more packets at the sametime, a collision occurs. Methods to deal with collisions includebuffering the packet or choosing a packet and dropping the others,unacceptable in a real-time system.

For a real-time system with control loops to operate correctly, the timewhen a message is received must be fixed and known by the node receivingthe message. This is called a time-triggered network.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary address-less, collision free, time-triggeredpoint-to-point ring network according to an embodiment of the invention.To provide the time-triggered, collision-free, address-less network witha ring topology 305, the software or programmable hardware within eachnode implements the following components:

-   -   A bit counter 310 which increments as each bit is received,        until the counter equals the fixed packet size.    -   A packet counter 320 which increments when the bit counter        indicates a complete packet. When the packet counter equals N−1,        where N is equal to the number of nodes in the network, it is        reset to 0.    -   A read list 330 identifying the values of the packet counter at        which the node should operate on packets.    -   A bit clock 340 and a mechanism of synchronizing the bit clock,        bit counter, and packet counters.

When the network is initialized, the bit clocks, bit counters, andpacket counters are synchronized and the nodes go into operational mode.With packet counters at 0, each node 300 places the packet to be sent,or an empty packet, in its transmit buffer 352, sends it, and incrementsthe packet counter by 1. Each node then transfers the packet in itsreceive buffer 351 to its transmit buffer until the packet counterequals N−1, when the process is repeated. If the packet counter equals anumber on the read list, the packet is intended for that node; the nodethen creates a local copy of the packet from the receive buffer andperforms any operations required. Because the packet counter and readlist determines when packets are to be copied, there is no need foraddresses.

Because only one packet is being sent and received at the same time,there are no collisions. Each packet is forwarded N−1 times, thusreaching every node in the ring. Because the transmitting and receivingnodes are always a fixed distance apart, a packet always arrives at thesame time relative to when the packet counter is 0. The network istherefore deterministic.

It may be an additional requirement that some nodes have more than onepacket to send. For each additional packet, additional buffers can becreated between the transmit buffer and receive buffer. The packetspropagate through the node in a first in, last out manner. When thepacket counter is 0, the node loads the send buffer and the additionalbuffers with all of the packets that must sent in a predetermined order.The node still uses the stored information to determine which packetsare intended for it. The preset value for N in all nodes is increased bythe total number of additional buffers in all nodes in the network.

Address-Less, Collision-Free, Time-Triggered, Point-to-Point Network

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary address-less, collision free, time-triggeredpoint-to-point network according to an embodiment of the invention. Toprovide the time-triggered, collision-free, address-less network ofarbitrary topology, the software or programmable hardware within eachnode implements the following behavior:

Each node 400 on the network sends and receives packets of a fixed size.To serially send the packets, each node has a bit clock. The length ofthe bit clock is the time it takes to send or receive one bit of thepacket. Associated with each communication port are a buffer for storingthe packet being transmitted and a buffer for storing the packet beingreceived.

Each node contains a bit counter to count the number of bits for eachpacket. Each node also contains a modulo N counter called a packetcounter 410. When the bit counter reaches the number of bits per packet,it resets itself and increments the packet counter. When the packetcounter reaches N it is reset to zero.

The default behavior of each node is to transfer the packet in thereceive buffer 420 to each of the transmit buffers, i.e. combiners 430,each time the packet counter is incremented. However, there is storeddata in each node used to modify, via a scheduler/arbiter 440, thedefault behavior.

At design time, the network is analyzed to determine when a particularnetwork node must insert, block, read, or operate upon packets receivedfrom adjacent nodes. A schedule is created for each node indicating atwhat packet counter values a packet should be inserted, read and/orblocked at one or more of the transmit buffers. The stored informationmay also indicate that a transmit buffer should operate upon, forexample a logical AND or logical OR, the data it receives from multiplereceive buffers. The design analysis may be iterative to insure thereare no collisions and all packets reach the intended nodes. The schedulefor each individual node is stored in that node.

The global value N is also computed from this analysis. After thenetwork is initialized, a distributed synchronization method is used tosynchronize the bit clock, the bit counter and the packet counters inall nodes. The nodes then go into an operational mode in which thedefault behavior of each node is to forward any packet it receives. Thisbehavior is modified by the schedule stored in the node. During eachpacket cycle, the scheduler/arbiter references the stored scheduleinformation to determine if a packet is to be inserted, read or blockedat each of the transmit buffers, or if a transmit buffer should operateupon the data received from the receive buffers. Because all nodes aresynchronized and the schedule is predetermined, the network is timetriggered, collisions are prevented, and addresses are not required.

Computer Implementation

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computer system that may be used toimplement certain features of some of the embodiments of the invention.The computer system may be a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a user device, a tablet PC, a laptop computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, an iPhone, aniPad, a Blackberry, a processor, a telephone, a web appliance, a networkrouter, switch or bridge, a console, a hand-held console, a (hand-held)gaming device, a music player, any portable, mobile, hand-held device,wearable device, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions, sequential or otherwise, that specify actions to be takenby that machine.

The computing system 1000 may include one or more central processingunits (“processors”) 1002, memory 1004, input/output devices 1008, e.g.keyboard and pointing devices, touch devices, display devices, storagedevices, e.g. disk drives, and communication facilities 1006, e.g.network interfaces, that are connected to an interconnect 1010.

In FIG. 5, the interconnect is illustrated as an abstraction thatrepresents any one or more separate physical buses, point-to-pointconnections, or both connected by appropriate bridges, adapters, orcontrollers. The interconnect, therefore, may include, for example asystem bus, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or PCI-Expressbus, a HyperTransport or industry standard architecture (ISA) bus, asmall computer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus(USB), IIC (12C) bus, or an Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus, also referred to as Firewire.

The memory 1004 and storage devices are computer-readable storage mediathat may store instructions that implement at least portions of thevarious embodiments of the invention. In addition, the data structuresand message structures may be stored or transmitted via a datatransmission medium, e.g. a signal on a communications link. Variouscommunications links may be used, e.g. the Internet, a local areanetwork, a wide area network, or a point-to-point dial-up connection.Thus, computer readable media can include computer-readable storagemedia, e.g. non-transitory media, and computer-readable transmissionmedia.

The instructions stored in memory 1004 can be implemented as softwareand/or firmware to program one or more processors to carry out theactions described above. In some embodiments of the invention, suchsoftware or firmware may be initially provided to the processing system1000 by downloading it from a remote system through the computingsystem, e.g. via the communication facility.

The various embodiments of the invention introduced herein can beimplemented by, for example, programmable circuitry, e.g. one or moremicroprocessors, programmed with software and/or firmware, entirely inspecial-purpose hardwired, i.e. non-programmable, circuitry, or in acombination of such forms. Special-purpose hardwired circuitry may be inthe form of, for example, one or more ASICs, PLDs, FPGAs, etc.

Although the invention is described herein with reference to thepreferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat other applications may be substituted for those set forth hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, the invention should only be limited by the Claims includedbelow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for phased adoption of a proposedcommunication system over a single communication channel, wherein thesingle communication channel has an available communication bandwidth,the method comprising: during a first phase, a sender transmitting dataover the single communication channel to a receiver using a currentcommunication system, wherein all of the available communicationbandwidth of the single communication channel is available for use bythe current communication system, wherein the sender and the receivereach comprise one or more hardware or software devices or applications;during a second phase subsequent to the first phase, the sendertransmitting data over the single communication channel to the receiverusing both the current communication system and the proposedcommunication system, wherein the proposed communication system isdifferent than the current communication system, and wherein theavailable communication bandwidth of the single communication channel issplit in any of a parallel or interleaved manner between the currentcommunication system and the proposed communication system; establishingconfidence for potential adopters in reliability of the proposedcommunication system, prior to committed adoption thereof; and during athird phase, after a predetermined period of time operating the proposedcommunication system, when the proposed communication system hasdemonstrated sufficient reliability, the sender transmitting data overthe single communication channel to the receiver solely using theproposed communication system, wherein all of the availablecommunication bandwidth of the single communication channel issubsequently available for use by the proposed communication system,wherein the current communication system and the proposed communicationsystem are based on any of a circuit switched network, a messageswitched network, or a packet switched network, and wherein committedadoption is complete and the proposed communication system becomes thecurrent communication system; and wherein the current communicationsystem and the proposed communication system are communication protocolsthat are each defined in software, and wherein the proposedcommunication system is provided via a software update.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein during the second phase, each portion of data that istransmitted from the sender to the receiver over the singlecommunication channel using the current communication system is alsotransmitted from the sender to the receiver over the singlecommunication channel as test data using the proposed communicationsystem.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: makingtransmission fully redundant during the second phase to eliminate apossibility of data loss due to a failure in the proposed communicationsystem alone.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising: during thesecond phase, making transmission of the data over the singlecommunication channel to the receiver using the current communicationsystem and the proposed communication system fully redundant; anddirectly comparing data received by the current communication systemwith data received by the proposed communication system to assess thereliability of the proposed communication system.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising: during the second phase: transmitting eachportion of data through either the current communication system or theproposed communication system over the single communication channel;estimating the reliability of the proposed communication system; andadjusting any of a fraction of the total data transmitted through theproposed communication system and the nature of the data transmittedthrough the proposed communication system based on the estimatedreliability.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: during thesecond phase, transmitting only a small fraction of the lowest prioritydata through the proposed communication system when the reliability ofthe proposed communication system is low.
 7. The method of claim 5,further comprising: during the second phase, reducing bandwidth that isdedicated to assessing the reliability of the proposed communicationsystem.
 8. The method of claim 5, further comprising: during the secondphase, only transmitting through the proposed communication system aheader of a data unit that is transmitted through the currentcommunication system.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein a flow of datais bidirectional, and further comprising: providing each potentialadopter with an opportunity to evaluate the reliability of the proposedcommunication system as both sender and receiver.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: potential adopters collectively determiningvia voting or another distributed decision making method that theproposed communication system is sufficiently reliable; and allpotential adopters adopting the proposed communication system in acoordinated fashion.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: atleast one potential adopter communicating as sender and receiver solelythrough the proposed communication system, while other potentialadopters continue to communicate through both the current communicationsystem and the proposed communication system; the at least one potentialadopter individually determining as a sender, a receiver, or both, whenthe proposed communication system has demonstrated sufficientreliability; and when a sufficient number of potential adopters haveindividually adopted the proposed communication system, a remainder ofthe potential adopters automatically allocating all of the availablecommunication bandwidth to the proposed communication system, either byvoluntary agreement or at a prompting of a regulatory authority.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: supporting continuous migrationthrough an indefinitely long sequence of communication system upgrades.13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: splitting the availablecommunication bandwidth of the single communication channel betweensuccessive generations of a communication system.
 14. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: a sender transmitting data to a receiverthrough the current communication system and the proposed communicationsystem over the single communication channel via a data splittingscheme; and once the proposed communication system is accepted forcommitted adoption, cycling the communication system one generation andthe sender transmitting data through a now current communication systemand a next-generation proposed communication system; wherein reliabilityof each next-generation communication system is continually underevaluation.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: concurrentlyevaluating more than one proposed communication system, in which an Nthcommunication system is the current communication system; and performingan (M+1)-way split of the available communication bandwidth of thesingle communication channel across the communication systems {N, N+1, .. . , N+M} to allow for concurrent evaluation of M proposedcommunication systems, with proposed communication systems aging throughan evaluation process from most recently proposed to next-in-line foradoption.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing thesplit of the available communication bandwidth of the singlecommunication channel between the current communication system and theproposed communication system at any one or more layers within an OSIcommunication system model, wherein the sender and the receiver utilizea specific layer at which the bandwidth split occurs; and determiningthe available communication bandwidth of the single communicationchannel when performing the split of the available communicationbandwidth of the single communication channel based on abandwidth-limiting layer or layers above or below.
 17. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: performing the split of the availablecommunication bandwidth of the single communication channel between thecurrent communication system and the proposed communication system in acommunication system in which several communication nodes are connectedto one another at physical and data link layers; software orprogrammable hardware onboard each node, serving as network andtransport layers in the current communication system to configure thenodes into an address-less, collision-free, time-triggeredpoint-to-point ring network; and the proposed communication systemconfiguring the nodes into an address-less, collision-free,time-triggered, point-to-point network that is not restricted to a ringtopology by installing a new system configuration to implement both thecurrent communication system and the proposed communication system inany of the parallel or interleaved manner.
 18. The method of claim 1,wherein the establishing confidence for potential adopters in thereliability of the proposed communication system is performed in apresence of any of an environmental factor or an adversarial factor,prior to the committed adoption thereof.
 19. The method of claim 1,wherein establishing confidence for potential adopters in thereliability of the proposed communication system includes determiningthe reliability of the software of the communication protocolcorresponding to the proposed communication system.
 20. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: only transmitting through the proposedcommunication system a cryptographic hash of a data unit that istransmitted through the current communication system.
 21. A method forphased adoption of a proposed communication system over a singlecommunication channel, wherein the single communication channel has anavailable communication bandwidth, the method comprising: during a firstphase, transmitting data over the single communication channel from asender to a receiver solely through a current communication system,wherein all of the available communication bandwidth of the singlecommunication channel is available for use by the current communicationsystem, wherein the sender and the receiver each comprise one or morehardware or software devices or applications; during a second phase:splitting available communication bandwidth of the single communicationchannel, including: transmitting data over a first portion of theavailable communication bandwidth of the single communication channelthrough the current communication system, and transmitting test dataover a second portion of the available communication bandwidth of thesingle communication channel through the proposed communication systemfor each portion of data transmitted over the first portion of theavailable communication bandwidth of the single communication channelthrough the current communication system, wherein the proposedcommunication system is different than the current communication system;verifying any of the arrival and the contents of the test data to assessthe reliability of the proposed communication system for a predeterminedperiod of time in a presence of an environmental factor; and during athird phase, transmitting data over the single communication channelonly via the proposed communication system, wherein all of the availablecommunication bandwidth of the single communication channel issubsequently available for use by the proposed communication system,wherein the current communication system and the proposed communicationsystem are based on any of a circuit switched network, a messageswitched network, or a packet switched network, and wherein the adoptionis complete and the proposed communication system becomes the currentcommunication system; and wherein the current communication system andthe proposed communication system are communication protocols that areeach defined in software, and wherein the proposed communication systemis provided via a software update.
 22. The method of claim 21, whereinthe verifying of the arrival or the contents of the test data to assessthe reliability of the proposed communication system for thepredetermined period of time is performed in a presence of any of anenvironmental factor or an adversarial factor.
 23. The method of claim21, wherein establishing confidence for potential adopters in thereliability of the proposed communication system includes determiningthe reliability of the software of the communication protocolcorresponding to the proposed communication system.